Twee straatverkopers met gevlochten rieten manden met allerhande spullen. 1900 - 1915

Editor: This gelatin silver print, "Twee straatverkopers met gevlochten rieten manden met allerhande spullen" which roughly translates to "Two Street Vendors with Wicker Baskets Full of Goods," by Johanna Hermina Marmelstein, dates from around 1900 to 1915. I'm immediately drawn to how staged it feels, despite the "street photography" label. What symbols jump out at you? Curator: Indeed, that artificial quality lends itself to an exploration of how cultures are framed. The baskets, laden with goods, suspended from the yoke... What do they evoke for you? Consider the balance – literally and figuratively – between burden and sustenance. This echoes the precariousness of life for these vendors. The woven pattern on the baskets mirrors the woven wall behind the vendors; do you find significance in this mirroring of pattern? Editor: I guess I see a kind of ordered system. But there's also a lot of contrast. Like, they are posed in front of the wall, and yet everything they own is portable. It feels like they are both a part of and apart from their surroundings. Is that what you mean about precarity? Curator: Precisely. And it’s also present in the gaze of the figures. Do they look directly at the viewer, challenging the act of being observed, or are they intentionally directed elsewhere? Who controls this narrative, and how is that reinforced in the photographic process? Does the starkness of the black and white alter your perception? Editor: The black and white makes it feel distant, like looking into a different world, even though they're so present. Thanks, that really opened up a whole new layer for me. Curator: It reveals how symbols accumulate layers of meaning across time, as we continue to interpret cultural memory.